Learning to Think Spatially (2006) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Executive Summary
Pages 1-10
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From page 1... ...
The challenge faced by Watson and Crick and their many competitors in the race to understand the molecular structure of the gene was to provide a three-dimensional model that met certain criteria including compatibility with (1) "the usual chemical assumptions," (2)
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We were not aware of the details of the results presented there when we devised our structure, which rests mainly though not entirely on published experimental data and stereochemical arguments. (Watson and Crick, 1953, p.
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It is the result of a brilliant exercise of imaginative visualization that is constrained by empirical data, expressed by two-dimensional images, and guided by deep scientific knowledge and incisive spatial intuition. THE PROCESS OF SPATIAL THINKING Watson and Crick's achievement is an intellectual tour de force, but the committee views the process of spatial thinking as a universal mode of thinking, one that is accessible to everyone to different degrees in different contexts.
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From page 4... ...
2. They practice spatial thinking in an informed way -- they have a broad and deep knowledge of spatial concepts and spatial representations, a command over spatial reasoning using a variety of spatial ways of thinking and acting, and well-developed spatial capabilities for using supporting tools and technologies.
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After coming to appreciate the fundamental importance of spatial thinking and realizing that it was not just undersupported but underappreciated, undervalued, and therefore underinstructed, the committee came to a new understanding of the charge. The two original questions about the current role and future development of GIS as a support system could be satisfactorily answered only after we addressed two additional questions, one about the societal and educational need for spatial thinking and the other about the ways in which we learn to think spatially.
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As the educational saying goes, "We assess what we value and we value what we assess." There are neither content standards nor valid and reliable assessments dedicated solely to spatial thinking. Without such standards and assessments, spatial thinking will remain locked in a curious educational twilight zone: extensively relied on across the K12 curriculum but not explicitly and systematically instructed in any part of the curriculum.
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The ultimate goal should be to foster a new generation of spatially literate students who have the habit of mind of thinking spatially, can practice spatial thinking in an informed way, and can adopt a critical stance to spatial thinking. Meeting this long-term goal will require careful articulation of the links between spatial thinking standards and existing disciplinary-based content standards.
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Therefore, while GIS can make a significant impact on teaching and learning about spatial thinking, it must be situated in a context wherein there is a systematic, standards-based approach to teaching spatial thinking, along with a suite of supporting tools available to do so. Taken alone, GIS is not the answer to the problem of teaching spatial thinking in American schools; however, it can play a significant role in an answer.
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; · strengthening the capacity to spatialize nonspatial data; · overcoming the visualization limitations (e.g., with respect to time and to full three-dimensional capacity) ; · providing graded versions of GIS that are age and/or experience appropriate (e.g., that are easy to learn, cumulative, and flexible)
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or a private philanthropy, a research program should be developed to determine whether or not an understanding of GIS improves academic achievement across the curriculum. Without credible assessment of results, the value of GIS and other support systems for spatial thinking cannot be evaluated.
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